Process for producing a food colorant, colorant thus obtained and uses thereof

ABSTRACT

The process is based on the stabilization of a natural colorant such as cephalopod ink and is carried out in two phases, a microbiological stabilization and a chemisal stabilization, the first being carried out between 80 and 90° C. and the chemical stabilization being carried out by mixing with chemical absorbents such as plant carbon and a cellulose hydrolisate, and incorporating a common salt, medicinal plant carbon, cellulose hydrolisate and water, while providing for a stabilization time prior to packaging. The present invention can be used to obtain extruded substitute products such as the simulation of the backs, eyes and eye spots of squids and the colour of the legs and the degraded bicolor of calamars.

This application is a national stage application, filed under 35 U.S.C.371, of international application no. PCT/ES98/00314, filed Nov. 19,1998.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The invention currently put forward consists of a procedure forobtaining a food colorant, as well as this colorant itself and foodsubstitutes obtained using it, from among black food colorants, based onthe stabilisation of a natural colorant such as cephalopod ink andcarrying out in two stages, a microbiological stabilisation and achemical stabilisation.

The process of microbiological stabilisation is a cleaning andtermination treatment between 80 and 90° C. of this natural ink, whilethe chemical stabilisation requires mixing with chemical absorbents suchas vegetal carbon and a cellulose hydrolisate, as well as a previousstabilisation time prior to packaging.

Its composition is as follows: 15-35% of a mass of stabilised ink; 2-10%of common salt (sodium chloride); 2-7% of medicinal vegetal carbon; 1-3%hydrolised cellulose. (carboxymethyl cellulose) and water to 100%.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The colorants, which are considered the least indispensable additives,are used mainly to normalise the colour of a foodstuff or drink.

However, this tendency has changed with the appearance of the agro-foodmarket of natural food substitutes, increasing its application to thedecoration of prepared proteins, to make them more attractive andsimilar to the original product.

Traditionally, vegetable extracts have been used as colorants of naturalorigin β-carotenes, beetroot juice, fruit juices . . . ) and syntheticcolorants, which are subject to very extensive toxicological studies.

Within this latter class of colorants, there are very few black colouredones. More exactly, the only ones that are admitted for use in theEuropean Union are those of vegetal carbon itself, Brilliant Negro BNand Black 7984, these last two being subject to strong restrictions bothregarding their use (in the case of Black 7984 it can only be used withcertain types of product) and in the daily admitted dose (D.A.D.) ofless that 0.75 mg/Kg of bodyweight for Brilliant Negro BN that,furthermore, cannot be used in foods that may be heated during theirpreparation.

On the other hand the use of the secretary glands of the cephalopod(inks) in the whole of the North of Spain is widely known, beingextensively used in the nouveau cuisine or miniature cooking, that uselarge quantities of “small cuttlefish ink”.

However, the natural product is not stable and is quickly degradedmaking its use not a viable option as an industrial food colouring. Thisdegradation is due mainly to the high microbiological load that thenatural product contains and the enzymatic/toxic activity derived fromthe repellent nature of the cephalopod ink.

On the other hand black colorants of animal origin have not been used ingeneral in the agro-food industry due to the fact that the consumptionof food of this colour is limited to the northern half of Spain, theLevantine coast (black rice) and some Asian countries.

The applicant is unaware of the existence of black food colorant,obtained from cephalopod ink by means of a double stabilisation processwith the microbiological and chemical stages.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention object of the present specification relates to a procedurefor obtaining a food colorant and substitutes obtained with it, fromamong black food colorants, based on the stabilisation of a naturalcolorant such as cephalopod ink, that will be denominated cephalopodblack hereinafter, this procedure allowing the natural ink originatingfrom these species, generally of commercial use, to be stabilised insuch a way that it can be used as a food colorant.

For these ends, the bags of ink or secretary glands of cephalopods suchas cuttlefish, pota, octopus or any species of cephalopod that hassecretary glands, are cleaned by hand, strained and mechanically ground,until a homogeneous mass is obtained.

The mass so obtained is submitted to a thermal treatment, then allowedit to cool to room temperature in the same container, convenientlycovered.

Simultaneously water, vegetal carbon of medicinal quality (activatedcarbon), cellulose hydrolisate and common salt (sodium chloride) aremixed in a homogenising apparatus.

The homogenate of the mass is kept for a time lying between one andthree hours and, then, the two masses are mixed in a mixing/cuttingmachine until a homogenous product is obtained. From this moment theproduct is now stable and can be packaged.

Most of the existing food colorants of vegetal or synthetic origin andderived from those of other colours. Those of animal origin do notexist. Apart from this, the black colour only has the three citedsources, and hence their enormous interest.

On one hand, and with respect to the three black colorants, it has theadvantage that its consumption, in a natural form, has been practised ona massive scale for generations, without observable accumulative toxiceffects and the only cases of known intoxication are those in which thenatural product has not be treated thermally, an aspect that isaddressed in the present invention.

Thus the product so obtained, cephalopod black, is homogeneous andperfectly applicable in industrial machinery for colouring the surfaceof food masses.

It has the important advantage compared to the natural product, that ofchemical stability, as it does not form salts, lose its colour and theactivated carbon neutralised the possible toxic substances. Itsmicrobiological stability is assured by the thermal process that reducesthe populations of micro-organisms and their enzymatic activity. Allthis is achieved without loss of organoleptic properties.

Finally, this is a very important innovation in the area of foodcolorants of industrial application, as it is a colorant that is neitherof vegetal origin nor of synthetic origin, but rather stabilised animalorigin. There is no reference in the agrofood market.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complete the description that is being given and with the aim offacilitating a better and easier understanding of the characteristics ofthe invention, the present specification is accompanied, as an integralpart thereof, by a diagram of the procedure in which, by way ofillustration and never limiting, the following has been represented:

FIG. 1 shows, in the line of action on the left, the manipulation of theanimal product and thermal treatment thereof, while the line on theright describes the incorporation of the other components and theirmixing, both lines joining in the homogenisation stage and theirsubsequent packaging.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

In view of what had previously been stated, the present inventionrelates to a procedure for obtaining a food colorant and the colorant soobtained, from among the black food colorants, this procedure forobtaining cephalopod black allowing its use as a food colorant, thisprocedure being particularly characterised because the secretary glandsof ink (2) of the cephalopods (1) are extracted (I), washed (II) byhand, strained (III) and ground (IV) mechanically, until a homogeneousmass is obtained (3), that is submitted to a thermal treatment (V), forbetween a minimum of 2 minutes and a maximum of 20 minutes, at atemperature lying between 80° and 90° C., then proceeding to cooling(VI) the thermally treated mass (4), to room temperature, in the samerecipient in which the thermal treatment has been carried out, which isconveniently covered.

On the other hand, and simultaneously to this above process, water (5),vegetal carbon (6) of medicinal quality (activated carbon), cellulosehydrolisate (7) and common salt (8) (sodium chloride) are mixed in ahomogenising apparatus, for a period of time lying between one and threehours, mixing (VIII) the homogenised mass (9) with the thermalised mass(4) in a mixing/cutting machine until cephalopod black is obtained (10)and then proceeding to packaging thereof (IX).

The finished product shows the following compositional formulation:15-35% of stabilised ink material; 2-10% of common salt (sodiumchloride); 2-7% medicinal vegetal carbon; 1-3% cellulose hydrolisate.(carboxy methyl celluloses) and water to make up 100%.

The compositional formula alternatively permits the substitution of thecellulose hydrolisate (carboxymethyl-cellulose) by any other foodthickener, such as agar, xanthane gums or similar substances.

Similarly and as a function of the anticipated use of the colorant,stabilising and/or preservative additives or spices may be addedindependently of the original formula, for example paprika may be addedto colour the cephalopod substitutes.

The Vegetal Carbon that forms part of the compositional formula shouldcomply with the purity and quality requirements as well as overcome acontrol assay of its adsorption capacity for its use as a colorantaccording to that described below.

Following Guideline USP-23, page 330, the activated carbon powder, ofmolecular weight of practically 12, has to be insoluble in water andchloroform, its aqueous suspension should show a neutral reaction toindicator paper, should lack chlorides and sulphates, and also heavymetals and arsenic, its sulphurous ashes should be less than ≦5%, thesubstances soluble in acid ≦3.5%, its iodine index should be ≧400, itscapacity for absorption should be such that 0.2 g should decolourise, atleast, 20 ml of a 1.5% solution of methylene blue, and it should alsohave a specific surface of the order of 900 m²/g, while the particlesize should allow a maximum sieve rejection of 80 mcm ≦10%.

EXAMPLES OF PREFERENTIAL USE OF THE COLORANT

The industrial black food colorant from cephalopod can be applied to anyfoodstuff in bulk or to the surface. In the examples described below itis applied in both forms.

Baby eel substitute: From a food substitute (for example surimi), a longpiece is extruded with form of baby eel, supplementing the extrusionmachinery (horizontal or vertical) with a dose of the product. In thisway degraded areas of colour can be obtained in the formation of theinitial piece, simulating the black or grey backs characteristic ofthese animals.

Similarly, if a micro-nozzle is placed at the extruder or any othersimilar system, black stains can be obtained that simulate eyes andocelli. The coloration thus obtained is resistant to washing and thermaltreatment.

Small cuttlefish substitute: In the system for moulding the food doughthe colorant is partially mixed (either alone or with paprika). Theextrusion can be carried out with the mixture of doughs or of colorantsthus obtaining a two-coloured substance which is characteristic of theseanimals when cooked. Additionally, the colorant in the dough can becombined with the surface colorant to obtain a simulation of the colourof the tentacles of cooked small cuttlefish.

The description is not made any more extensive, on the understandingthat any expert in this art would have enough information to understandthe scope of the invention and the advantages derived therefrom, and toproceed to reproduce the invention.

It is understood that, if the invention is not essentially altered, bothchanges in the equipment used and their arrangement for incorporatingthe component elements may vary within the characterisation of theinvention.

The terms used during the specification and the meaning attributed tothem should always be considered in a non-limiting manner.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process for obtaining a stabilized black foodcolorant by stabilization of ink from naturally occurring dyes,comprising the steps: i. extracting ink from the glands of cephalopods,ii. preparing the ink by incorporating the steps of washing, straining,and grinding mechanically the extracted ink to a point where ahomogeneous mass is obtained, iii. submitting the mass to a thermaltreatment of 80-90° C. for a period of 2-20 minutes, iv. cooling themass to room temperature and concurrently mixing with a homogenizedpreparation comprised of water, vegetal carbon in an amount effective tostabilize the black food colorant, at least one food thickener selectedfrom the group consisting of hydrolyzed cellulose, modified food gumsand agar, and sodium chloride, said preparation having been homogenizedfor 1-3 hours, v. mixing the mass with the homogenized preparation in amixing and cutting machine whereby a stabilized cephalopod blackcolorant is obtained.
 2. The process of claim 1, in which saidstabilized black food colorant consists essentially of: 15-35%stabilized ink; 2-10% sodium chloride; 2-7% medicinal vegetal carbon,1-3% cellulose hydrolyzate and water.
 3. The process of claim 1, inwhich said food thickener is cellulose hydrolyzate.
 4. The process ofclaim 1, in which the thickener is selected from the group consisting ofmodified food gums and agar.
 5. The process of claim 1, wherein saidcolorant is resistant to aqueous and thermal degradation anddiscoloration.